Solutions for Chapter 2: Decoding the Hidden Messages in Starlight

A bitterly cold air mass that forms over the frozen Arctic Ocean.

A wide gap in the ring system of Saturn between the A ring and the B ring.

A span on the geologic time scale beginning about 65 million years ago following the Mesozoic era.

The exchanges of energy and moisture that occur among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, solid Earth, biosphere, and cryosphere.

That portion of the seafloor adjacent to the continents. It may include the continental shelf, continental slope, and continental rise.

The mean temperature for a day that is determined by averaging the 24 hourly readings or, more commonly, by averaging the maximum and minimum temperatures for a day.

A relatively rapid type of mass wasting that involves a flow of soil and regolith containing a large amount of water. Also called mudflows.

A stream that is usually dry because it carries water only in response to specific episodes of rainfall. Most desert streams are of this type.

A mountain valley that has been widened, deepened, and straightened by a glacier.

The transmission of shortwave solar radiation by the atmosphere, coupled with the selective absorption of longer-wavelength terrestrial radiation, especially by water vapor and carbon dioxide.

Relates the distance to a galaxy and its velocity.

A pair of structures extending into the ocean at the entrance to a harbor or river that are built for the purpose of protecting against storm waves and sediment deposition.

The distance at which an object would have a parallax angle of 1 second of arc (3.26 lightyears).

A lake formed during a period of increased rainfall. During the Pleistocene epoch this occurred in some nonglaciated regions during periods of ice advance elsewhere.

The amount of organic matter synthesized by organisms from inorganic substances through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis within a given volume of water or habitat in a unit of time.

A relatively dense dust cloud in interstellar space that is illuminated by starlight.

The point where a rapid steepening of the gradient occurs, marking the outer edge of the continental shelf and the beginning of the continental slope.

The area where an air mass acquires its characteristic properties of temperature and moisture.

A series of long ridges oriented at right angles to the prevailing wind; these dunes form where vegetation is sparse and sand is very plentiful.

See Refraction.